Foreign investors pulled out a total of N642.65bn from the nation’s stock market last year, compared to the N435.31 withdrawn in 2017, the Nigerian Stock Exchange said in a new report on Thursday.

The NSE said foreign inflows into the market fell to N576.45bn last year from N772.25bn in 2017.

Foreign portfolio investment outflow includes sales transactions or liquidation of portfolio investments through the stock market, while the FPI inflow includes purchase transactions on the NSE (equities only), according to the data.

The concerns over the forthcoming generation elections and rising interest rate in the United States and some other developed economies had resulted to the exit of foreign investors from the NSE in recent months.

The Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema, at the 2018 Market Recap and Outlook for 2019 on Monday, noted that the rise in foreign outflows “highlights attenuated foreign participation due to a shift to higher-yielding assets with lower risks in developed countries, coupled with the impending political risks in the coming Nigerian elections.”

The NSE Domestic and FPI Report for December showed that total transactions at the nation’s bourse reduced by 15.93 per cent from N149.72bn in November to N125.86bn in December.

It said the cumulative transactions reduced by 5.44 per cent to N2.404tn in 2018 from N2.542tn in the previous year.

The bourse said, “Domestic investors outperformed foreign investors by 4.54 per cent in December 2018. Total domestic transactions increased marginally by 0.64 per cent from N65.36bn in November to N65.78bn in December 2018.

“In contrast, total foreign transactions reduced by 28.78 per cent from N84.36bn to N60.08bn driven by a reduction in foreign inflows, which reduced by 34.31 per cent from N34.97bn to N22.97bn and foreign outflows, which reduced by 24.86 per cent from N49.39bn to N37.11bn over the same period.

The NSE said between 2011 and 2015, foreign transactions consistently outperformed domestic transactions but domestic transactions marginally outpaced foreign transactions in 2016 and 2017, and remained almost at par in 2018.

It said, “Also, foreign transactions, which were N1.539tn in 2014, declined to N1.219bn in 2018. Over a 12-year period, domestic transactions have decreased by 66.67 per cent from N3.556tn in 2007 to N1.185tn in 2018.

“The total foreign transactions accounted for about 51 per cent of the total transactions carried out in the financial year 2018 whilst the domestic transactions accounted for about 49 per cent of the total transactions in the same year.”

The volatility in capital flows, especially FPI, has been described as one of the downside risks to the nation’s macroeconomic outlook.

At their meeting in November, several members of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria expressed concerns over the continuous outflow of portfolio investments.

The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) Seme Command, has urged more Nigerians to engage in legitimate export business and shun illegal trade that is posing dangers to the economy.

Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Mohammed Uba, yesterday declared that export is free, adding that the Federal Government has also initiated a scheme to give such legitimate exporter 30% value of the trade as an incentive to motivate export.

He said the exporters are only expected to pay 0.5 per cent as Nigerian export supervision scheme, which is not going to government, but meant to facilitate documentation

Noting the balance of trade currently favours imports than exports, Uba said the customs is determined to facilitate trade and encourage more exports rather than stifle it.

He said: “Export is free; what government needs is documentation. Government will also give you 30 per cent of the value as incentive to encourage the exporters and help them in foreign exchange. The 0.5 per cent charged is for facilitation of document, nothing goes to government.

“Nigerians should endeavour to engage in legitimate export trade. The NCS has help desk to assist to assist the exporter/importers. Our daily duty is to facilitate trade and not to impede trade. It is not our willingness to continue to arrest people and send them to prison. We can use our good health, intelligence and resources to do legitimate trade and contribute meaningfully to the national economy rather than engaging in illegal trade,” he said.

Uba, said the new boarder post at Seme is already having significant impact on regional trade and ease the movement of people, as they only deal with single interface that unites the operations of Nigerian officials and their Seme counterpart. Also, he said all government agencies at the boarder have unified their operations, thereby making movement of goods and people easy.

He confirmed that the European Union has delivered the new scanner machine.

Although, the NCS is yet to operate the facility as it awaits clearance from the Nigerian Radiation Agency, he said they have an existing one currently operational, adding that the coming on stream of the new scanner will aid their operations and facilitate trade through the Africa’s busiest boarder.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says the country earned 640.35 million dollars from the export of crude oil and gas for the month of October, 2018.

The corporation disclosed this in its monthly Financial and Operation report for October 2018, released in Abuja.

It said that the total export receipt of 640.35 million dollars recorded in October 2018 was higher than the 527.70 million dollars logged in September 2018.

It added that the receipt showed 450.44 million dollars accrued from crude oil sale with gas and miscellaneous receipts standing at 173.92 million and 15.99 million dollars respectively.

In the downstream sector, the report revealed that the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a downstream subsidiary of NNPC, posted a receipt of ₦231.33 billion from sales of white products in the month of October 2018 compared with ₦150.25 billion sold in September 2018.

“Total revenues generated from the sales of white products for the period October 2017 to October 2018 stand at ₦2.684 trillion, where PMS contributed about 88.32 per cent of the total sales value of ₦2.371 trillion.

“To ensure continuous increase of PMS supply and effective distribution across the country, a total of 1.66 billion litres of petrol, translating to 55.50 milion liters/day, were supplied for the month under review,’’ it said

The report further noted that out of the 1,066.88 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd) of gas supplied to the domestic market in October 2018, about 627.33 mmscfd of gas representing 58.81 per cent was supplied to gas-fired power plants to generate an average power of about 2,349MW.

This, it said when compared with the September 2018, was an average of 615 mmscfd supplied to generate 2,303MW.

“The balance of 439.35 mmscfd or 41.19 per cent was supplied to other industries.’’ It said

Similarly, the reported noted that for the period of October 2017 to October 2018 an average of 1,188.58 mmscfd of gas was supplied to the domestic market, comprising of an average of 744.06 mmscfd or (62.60 per cent) as gas supply to the power plants and 444.52 mmscfd or (37.40 per cent) as gas supply to industries.

It added that about 3,096.18 mmscfd or 89.58 per cent of the export gas was sent to Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG) Bonny.

On Pipeline vandalism, the Corporation raised an alarm on the increasing incidents of pipeline vandalism across the country.

It said that in October its pipeline network suffered a 42.9 per cent increase in the incidents of vandalism compared to the previous month during the year.

Giving a breakdown of the incidents of breaches in its infrastructure it said the corporation recorded 219 pipeline vandalised points in the month under review, compared to 125 incidents it suffered in September of the same year.

It revealed that among the breaches, four vandalised pipeline points failed to be welded and one point was ruptured.

The report stated that cases of vandalism of pipeline facilities were high along Ibadan-Ilorin and Aba-Enugu axis, accounting for 81 (40%) and 39 (18%) vandalized points respectively.

It added that in spite the challenge posed by pipeline vandalism, the NNPC kept an eye on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) stock level to ensure zero fuel queue across the nation.

Abuja – The Technical Committee on Nigeria Yam Export Nigeria Yam Committee Targets 5,760 Tonnes Export in 2019 say it is targeting the exportation of no fewer than 5,760 tonnes of yam to different countries in 2019. Prof. Simon Irtwange, Chairman of the committee told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday, that the committee was unable to achieve 50 per cent of the same target in 2018.

Irtwange said that the existences of the 1986 Export Prohibition Act, as well as some other logistics issues were hindering successful operations of yam exports in the country.
We are still targeting 5,760 tonnes for exportation this year which is the same target last year.

“We were unable to do up to 50 percent of last year’s target because of some difficulties and logistics problem.

“We are trying to attack those issues very vigorously.

“We have written to the Ministers of Agriculture and Trade about the Export Prohibition Act to put pressure on the National Assembly to do Nigerian farmers this favour.

“We found out that some efforts have been done at the National Assembly but we do not know where the thing is currently hanging at the National Assembly.

The chairman noted that there were no cases of yam rejection at the international market in 2018.

“There was no rejection of our produce, the challenge we are having is that because there is an Export Prohibition Act in place especially in the United Kingdom.

Once they see our yams there, they will say it is contraband because they are aware of the ban on export of yam out of Nigeria because our country prohibits it.

“So, it is even better to label our yams Ghana yam for it to be accepted in United Kingdom markets.’’

Irtwange, who is also the President, Yam Farmers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria, appealed to the government to provide incentive for farmers to produce sufficient yams across the country in 2019.

According to him, once there is an incentive for the farmer, they will go into large scale and a lot of farmers are doing that now. (NAN)

How Corporate Organisations Can Save Money on Employees Travel in 2019

Making corporate travel savings might sound like a challenge, especially if you have lots of employees flying to different locations at different times. But there are ways to keep your costs down without compromising on travellers safety or services. With a smart process in place, you can save money on every trip, and make both your travellers and your stakeholders happy. Jumia’s hotel & flight services, discusses the most effective ways to reduce your overall corporate travel spend in 2019.

Tighten up your corporate policy

From booking flights to meal allowances and handling expenses, there’s a lot to consider when setting out a corporate travel policy. That means there’s plenty that can slip through the net. Take a close look at your existing corporate travel policy and think about whether it’s robust enough to cover every area of travel spend within your company.

Sign up to a travel agency

If you want a complete corporate travelsolution, a travel agency like Jumia’s hotel and flight services is your sure bet. There are countless and limitless largesse these companies would enjoy if they signup. They include amazing discounts on hotel and flightbookings, credit facility, sterling customer service and prompt response to queries. In addition, it gives you full visibility of all your travel arrangements, helping you make the right decisions that will lead to significant reductions in your costs.

Set realistic food and transport allowance

You might find that giving employees control over their food and transport spending can actually reduce overspending. Meal expenses can be set as an overall allowance per day, giving the employee the choice of how much to spend individually on breakfast, lunch and dinner. There’ll always be exceptions – so keep that five-star restaurant in reserve for your highest-profile client meetings. When it comes to transport, you should clearly advise employees to choose the most cost-effective method, factoring in journey times. This could include using their own vehicles to get from A to B and then reimbursing them.

Reward your employees

Every time your travellers pick a more cost-effective option, they’re saving the company money. Over the course of a year, that can really add up. So how about giving them an incentive to deliver further savings? It could be a voucher for their favourite store, a share of the savings, or time off – just some way of thanking employees for reducing your travel costs and encouraging them to keep doing it.

Have a pre-trip approval process

One of the simplest ways to reduce your corporate travel spend is by having an approval system in place for every booking. By making it clear who needs to give approval for travel, you won’t have the problem of trips having to be cancelled after they’ve been booked, triggering wasted expenditure.

It is January and this is the time to start saving early for your next vacation if you are a travel freak. Maybe you have a dream destination, but you can’t quite save up enough for travel costs. Or maybe you can get yourself there, but you’d have to live on bread and water for the entire trip. If your vacation expenses are just out of reach, a few adjustments can help you put aside more cash and reach your goal. Jumia’shotel & flight marketplace, shares ways to start saving early for your upcoming vacation.

Figure out how much money you need

Before you can even plan how to save for a vacation, you should calculate how much you plan on spending. While you won’t be able to do an exact calculation, you will be able to estimate your average expenses by researching your destination. This can give you a good idea of what you will need to save every month. Everyone travels differently, so no two numbers will be alike. You’ll want to determine how cheaply or luxuriously you’ll want to travel in the new year in order to figure out how this will fit into your monthly budget.

Start a monthly budget

If you don’t currently have a monthly budget, it might be time to take a hard look at your spending. Evaluate how much you spend each month on necessities like rent and discretionary purchases like movie tickets. Then, set a reduced monthly spending budget and put the money you save in your vacation fund. Even after you take your trip, you might want to stick to your budget and keep saving.

Open a bank account

If your travel fund is mixed with your general savings account, you should open a dedicated savings account just for travel. It will be easier to put aside money specifically for vacation, and you’ll be less likely to dip into the fund for other expenses.

Get a side hustle

If you need to boost your vacation savings quickly, a temporary side hustle can help get you there. If you own a car, you can drive for Uber or Taxify, join the Jumia JForce or do some freelance work. Just make sure to funnel your extra earnings directly to your vacation savings.

Stay focused and inspired

Keep feeding your desire to travel. Travel planning can be daunting and a lot of work and, if your friends and family aren’t that enthusiastic about it, it can be a little depressing because the support you’re looking for isn’t there.

Eggs remain one of the most controversial food items. High intake of eggs has traditionally been discouraged, mainly due to their high cholesterol content. However, eggs are also a rich source of many bioactive compounds that can have beneficial effects on health. This means that the health effects of consuming eggs are difficult to determine based solely on their cholesterol content.

The investigators have previously shown that eating roughly one egg per day was associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes among middle-aged men participating in the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study in eastern Finland.

“The purpose of the current study was to explore potential compounds that could explain this association using non-targeted metabolomics, a technique that enables a broad profiling of chemicals in a sample,” says Early Stage Researcher and lead author of the study Stefania Noerman from the University of Eastern Finland.

The study found that the blood samples of men who ate more eggs included certain lipid molecules that positively correlated with the blood profile of men who remained free of type 2 diabetes. In addition, the researchers identified several biochemical compounds in blood that predicted a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, including the amino acid tyrosine.

The study suggests some plausible mechanisms which could at least partly explain the inverse association between egg intake and the previously observed lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

“Although it is too early to draw any causal conclusions, we now have some hints about certain egg-related compounds that may have a role in type 2 diabetes development. Further detailed investigations with both cell models and intervention studies in humans that use modern techniques, such as metabolomics, are needed to understand the mechanisms behind physiological effects of egg intake,” Early Stage Researcher Noerman concludes.